A three-judge appeals court panel upheld the criminal conviction of former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in a unanimous decision on Friday. Bannon was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for not responding to a subpoena from a House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Despite maintaining that he could not testify due to executive privilege concerns raised by former President Donald Trump, Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison by federal judge Carl Nichols. This decision was upheld by the appeals court, which found no basis to depart from binding legal precedent.
Bannon and his legal team contended that he did not willfully defy Congress by not responding to the subpoena because he was following the advice of his attorney. However, the appeals court ruled that the “advice of counsel” defense was not valid in this case. The judges, including Bradley Garcia, appointed by President Biden, emphasized that Bannon’s deliberate refusal to comply with the subpoena was not accidental and did not require bad faith, evil motive, or unlawful purpose. The court also rejected arguments from Bannon’s defense team that the Jan. 6 committee was invalid.
Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro is also serving a four-month prison sentence for defying a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee. Like Bannon, Navarro is appealing his conviction and has requested supervised release. The impact of Friday’s ruling on Bannon’s prison sentence remains unclear. Both Bannon and Navarro have the option of seeking further appeal, including potentially asking the Supreme Court to review the matter.
The appeals court panel, which included judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican administrations, unanimously upheld Bannon’s conviction for criminal contempt of Congress. The ruling emphasized that Bannon’s intentional nonresponse to the subpoena was sufficient to support the charges against him. The legal precedent cited by the court made it clear that advice of counsel was not a valid defense in this case, despite Bannon’s arguments to the contrary.
The case of Steve Bannon and his conviction for contempt of Congress is part of a broader legal and political controversy surrounding the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The appeals court’s decision to uphold Bannon’s conviction adds to the ongoing scrutiny of individuals who have defied subpoenas related to the Capitol attack. As Bannon and Navarro continue to pursue legal avenues for appeal, the implications of their cases for future congressional investigations and executive privilege issues remain relevant. The outcome of these appeals could have broader implications for the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch in the United States.
